Estate Tax Repeal Bill Passes Ways and Means Committee

On March 26 the House Ways and Means Committee passed a bill to repeal the estate tax. The party-line vote on the Death Tax Repeal Act was 22-10. The bill also repeals generation-skipping transfer tax and would lower the gift tax rate to 35%. A similar bill is expected for consideration by the Senate Finance Committee within the next week. The Senate bill normally would require 60 votes for passage. Should the White House oppose repeal of estate taxes (quite likely) the bill will require 67 Senate votes for passage.